AUSTIN, Texas — Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would legalize fentanyl testing strips.
House Bill 1644 would change state law so that the strips are no longer classified as “drug paraphernalia.”
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, between August 2023 and July 2024, fentanyl accounted for 43% of unintentional drug-related deaths in the state.
At a committee hearing on Monday, HB 1644’s author, State Rep. Dr. Tom Oliverson (R-Cypress), said testing strips help people know what’s in the drugs they take.
“I wanna be clear: I’m not somebody who supports the idea of illicit drug use,” Oliverson said. “But we live in a country, we live in a world, where drug addiction is a mental illness. And I want everyone to get treatment for it, but I can’t treat you when you’re dead.”
Advocates have repeatedly said fentanyl testing strips are an important part of curbing fentanyl overdoses.
“We need more fentanyl strips. We need more Narcan. We need more help,” Caroline Williams, a woman who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose, told KVUE last May.
As recently as this February, advocates brought their concerns to the Texas State Capitol, with members of the group Vocal Texas saying fentanyl testing strips need to be legalized. State Rep. Erin Zwiener, who filed her own bill to legalize the strips this session, agreed.
“I absolutely think we have a chance to pass fentanyl test strips,” Zwiener told KVUE. “We just need to convince the Senate this is how we save lives.”
The House passed a similar bill last legislative session, but the Senate never took it up.
HB 1644 was left pending Monday, so lawmakers would have to take it up again to vote it out of committee.